Public Policy

The Masters in Public Policy (MPP) Program is hosting a dinner reception and fundraiser to benefit the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The event will feature a formal dinner, silent auction, cash bar and opera performance. Tickets are $50 and must be purchased in advance.

Public Policy wil host a poverty summit exploring the dimensions of poverty in Iowa and the U.S. Guest speakers will be Dr. Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.; and Dr. Robin Jarrett, African American Studies, University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana.

Al Hays, director of the Public Policy Program and professor of political science, will present “Policing in Northern Ireland: Community Control, Community Policing, and the Search for Legitimacy.” This presentation will explore the recent struggles of Northern Ireland to create a legitimate police force that is viewed as responsive to the needs of both the Catholic/nationalist community and the Protestant/unionist community. Three types of legitimacy are explored: democratic legitimacy through popular control, professional legitimacy of trained public officials and legitimacy through responsive implementation.

Miriam Jordan is a senior special writer for The Wall Street Journal. She writes about immigrants nationally from a grass-roots perspective. Jordan has received several awards for her coverage of immigrants and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 and 2009.

Major Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, will discuss the war on drugs. A reaction panel of university and community experts will follow the lecture. The War on Drugs was initiated in the 1970s in response to a perceived national problem of increased drug usage, particularly among the young. Since then, drug enforcement efforts have cost billions of dollars in federal, state and local funds. In addition, the rapid increase in the number of individuals convicted for drug offenses and the length of their incarceration is primarily responsible for the fact that the United States has one of the highest per capita incarceration rates of all the nations of the world. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsors are the UNI Public Policy Program, UNI Public Policy Club, Northern Iowa Student Government and the Citizens for Undoing Racism Task Force on the War on Drugs.

A panel of alumni who hold leadership positions in community and economic development will speak on the topic “Current Issues in Community Development.” The panel provides an opportunity to showcase some of the accomplishments of public policy alumni.